


A Storm's Cold Brings Warmth

by AtzenMeirge



Series: The Tick Drabbles [3]
Category: The Tick - All Media Types
Genre: Cold, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Or not, Platonic Cuddling, Power Outage, Thunder and Lightning, can be read as either platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27996912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtzenMeirge/pseuds/AtzenMeirge
Summary: A thunderstorm knocks out their electricity which means no heating. Arthur is chilly but luckily Tick is there to help.
Relationships: Arthur Everest & The Tick (The Tick), Arthur Everest/The Tick (The Tick)
Series: The Tick Drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021905
Kudos: 8





	A Storm's Cold Brings Warmth

It was times like these that Arthur appreciated the ability that he had to work from home, as long as he arrived to work at least once or twice a week. More and more he had found himself working at home than at the proper building as life as a hero usually left him too sore or tired to come into work.

Arthur was blessed enough to be left alone for a good majority of the afternoon onwards as Tick was out patrolling and presumably had found some poor crook seeing as how long he's been out.

It had also been raining nonstop and at varying degrees the whole day and Arthur felt like he was going to come down with something the moment he step out the door; he could feel the cold seeping through the windows, though he had the heater on.

There was a flash of light that lit the room for just a moment. Arthur looked up from his computer and turned to the window. There was a crack. Three seconds between the lightning and thunder.

He was very cautious, mostly due to his anxiety, and had the mind to quickly save his progress.

It thundered again but this time there was barely a delay and he could distantly hear and see the result of other electric bolts cracking through the sky in the distance.

One loud crash and everything was pitch black, save for his computer's screen. Arthur startled and stayed silent as the sound of rain continued after the almost deafening thunder.

He silently thanked destiny for her warning.

With the Wi-Fi no longer working, he shut his computer and sat in silence.

What was he to do now?

The question was left alone as he absorbed the world around him. A dark apartment, warmed leather couch, carpet underneath socked feet, the sound of rain and the occasional thunder, lightning flashing the room, the warmth in the air ebbing away.

Crap, it was starting to get cold and quick. He cursed the age of the building and the windows, the damages too.

He swiftly went to the bedroom and got under the covers, huddling himself to start the process of warming himself up. He shut his eyes and allowed his mind to drift, as sleep was known to come.

But as you could assume from the way I phrased that: sleep did _not_ come to him. Instead he was left lying with his eyes closed as the room got colder and colder... and colder.

A shiver racked through his frame. He had a thick layer of blankets covering him but that wasn't doing much at all it seemed. He sighed: he was quick to give up.

Arthur couldn't tell how long he'd been lying there in his own shivers as his alarm clock was down for the moment. He'd be so close to sleep but then just as he was about to cross that threshold, his body convulsed, and he was now awake again.

He hadn't realized how much he'd gotten used to the storm outside that it was now considered silence as heavy footsteps lead their way up to his apartment.

Tick was home. Arthur sighed. He already had trouble sleeping and the large hero was loud. He closed his eyes again in hopes to be able to tune him out too.

Footsteps and bits of humming outed where Tick was located within the home. He went from the living room to the kitchen. The suction of the fridge clunked open and there was an inquisitive sound before it was shut.

Oh right, the fridge wasn't working. Though, the apartment was as cold as all hell, so it thankfully didn't matter.

The footsteps continued to the bathroom. Another questioning noise and a grumble and Tick was moving on to the living room.

The familiar hiss and whine from the couch and the noise of incredulous confusion told Arthur that the beastly man wasn't able to turn on the TV.

A mumbled question and the heavy sound of his TV falling back onto its stand made Arthur dread if anything happened to it.

Tick moved on yet again, tittering his disappointment at everything not working. The footsteps beelined to the bedroom door then stopped.

Or at least he thought he'd stopped. A slight breath of disturbed air brushed against his cheek. The only answer he got was a quiet tink of the door closing again.

It was not quite disturbing but odd how quiet Tick could be. He could sneak up on him easily whether he meant to or not. Probably was that 'drama power' Tick mentioned having.

"Arthur?" Tick whispered, or rather he said in a lower tone.

Arthur breathed out and rolled over enough to comfortably look up at him. He made sure to keep his blanket over his neck. "Yes, Tick?"

"Oh!" that exclamation was said in an actual whisper, "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, no you didn't. It's uh... It's cold and I'm having trouble falling asleep, that's all."

The concern on the blue man's face turned contemplative, his antennas moving back and forth a bit.

Then he straitened with a grin. Arthur was too worn out to mentally contemplate whether he should be worried or not.

"Move over, chum, I'm coming in with you."

Worried it was.

"What?- Wait! Tick!" he stuttered. He wanted to protest and push away but the cold had seeped into his body and he was afraid of losing any remaining warmth he had.

That said, Tick got in easy and quickly covered the both of them with the sheet.

"C'mere," he said as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man and pulled him close. It was like a hug but lying down and not at all crushing.

Nerves fired all throughout Arthur's body. Anxiety plagued his breaths. He stayed stiff and wide eyed.

Admittedly he did feel warmer. Whether that was from his panicked blood-rush or Tick's warmth, he couldn't tell. Probably both.

Actually, Tick _was_ pretty warm. Not too hot that he would start sweating but warm and comfortable. Even his face which was left out from under the blankets and pressed near Tick's chest was warm.

He was relaxed now, comfortable and warm. When he closed his eyes, sleep seeped back in and this time his body didn't jolt him back awake.

Finally, he was lulled into slumber by slow breathing.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it took so long to post, there was a lot of things going on.


End file.
